Strawberry Take 2

[K&GB]

I started another batch of strawberry wine a couple of weeks ago.Gina and Iwere visiting our daughterin San Diegoand Imade a brief detour to the strawberry fields along I-5. Brought home 2 big flats of the darkest, reddist berries I've ever seen. Wound up making a 3-1/2 gal batch that fit perfectly into a 3-gal carboy after the first racking. I've stabilized (K-meta, K-sorbate) the finished wine but haven't added anything yet.



My firsttry at strawberry was somewhat less than gratifying. (See post titled "Trial Batches" if interested) I bottled the 1-gal batch a month ago when it was only about two months old. I didn't use a clarifier because it seemed to have cleared so well on its own. But now the bottles have visible sediment. I opend a 350 mil bottle this past weekend and was disappointed in the results. The strawberry aroma was overpowering to the point of actually being unpleasant. I also back-sweeted too much for my taste.


Iintendto correctthe mistakes I made the first time around, but I'm not sure what, if anything, I can do to enhance the bouquet/flavor. I suppose it's possible I just don't care for strawberry wine. So here are some things I'm considering.


Oak- I have some light and medium American oak spirals. I'm considering using one of the light toast spirals in the strawberry for a month or so. Has anyone oaked their strawberry before?


Back-sweetening- I intend to use less sugar this time. I may separate the batch into individual gallons and only sweeten some of it.


Clarifier-I'll probably use Super Kleer on this batch.


I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any. I'll post my recipe when I get home from work.


KenEdited by: K&GB

 

[K&GB]

Here's my recipe. Started May 7th




~10lbs berries

~5 lbs sugar

~1.5 gal water


30 oz chopped golden raisins

4 tsp acid blend
4 tsp pectic enzyme



1 tsp grape tannin

< 1/4 tsp k-meta

4 tsp yeast nutrient

Montrachet yeast










I don't have a scale, so my weights are estimates. I cut the berries and loaded them into two strainer bags along with 15 oz of golden raisins in each. Crushed berries in primary and added water to 4-gal mark. Added all ingredients except sugar, yeast and nutrient. After 12 hours,added sugar to 1.090 (overshot a bit). Added yeast and nutrient the next day.


Fermentation went quickly. Removed strainer bags and transferred to secondary May 11th. Racked and stabilized May 17th. I plan to keep this in the carboy all summer and bottle in the fall. Here's a pic, but the light's not very good. I appreciate all advice.

 

[Wade E]

I usually use 1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme per gallon. Is there some directions on your enzyme that state to use that much? 1/4 tsp of k-meta is also a little high for a 3 1/2 gallon batch!

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Ive made a few batches of strawberry, it as lead me to use for blending, or mix with other ingredients as I cant seem to get one to stand on its own either. Maybe its just my changing tastes, but seems sweet is the only way to go on one like this, and I'm liking sweet less and less. I did mix some with an orange muscat port I made, seemed to be the best use Ive found thus far. Good luck with yours.

 

[K&GB]

Wade, now you've got me thinking. I checked the label on the pectic enzyme and confirmed that it recommends 1/2 tsp per gallon. But of the four recipes I reviewed, one called for 1-tsp, and another called for 2-tsp, both for supposedly 1-gal batches. I thought I was being conservative by going with 1-tsp. That's probably why both bags of fruit dissolved to nothing.


I meant to indicate less than (&lt 1/4 tsp of k-meta. I didn't measure it precisely.Edited by: K&GB

 

[K&GB]

Thanks for the feedback JW. Who knows? Maybe mine will turn into a mixer also.

 

[NorthernWinos]

We always loved our Strawberry/Red Grape wine....I usually made it with about 20+# of fruit and 2 bottles of WinExpert red Grape Concentrate....It is really a nice red wine....Lots of Strawberry flavor.

A few months ago I mixed up a batch and used 2 cans Alexander's Burgundy Wine Base, 2 bottles WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate and only 4 quarts of steam extracted Strawberry juice [aprox. 10#] It is a lovely wine.....the Strawberry is still present, but it is mostly just a mellow red wine. I will give it more oak next time for a little more complexity.

I have also done a Merlot/Raspberry and a Cabernet/Raspberry about the same recipes...they are really nice red wines. They could even have a little less fruit and still give you the flavor of the fruit....so if you don't have much fruit, you can still enjoy a wine with a fruit flavor.

I am going to pick up some inexpensive wine kits and add about 10# or 4 quarts fruit juices....and see how those turn out.

This is such fun...trying new recipes and improving on what you personally thought was great...

It just keeps getting better.

 

[K&GB]

Thanks for the info NW. What kind of oak did you use, and did you use a clarifier?

 

[NorthernWinos]

Used Super-Kleer K-C and American Oak...I toasted it in a hot dry fry pan till it was medium color....

Having some right now...Cheers!!!!

 

[K&GB]

Thanks. Cheers!

 

[K&GB]

Follow up on the Strawberry.
I wound up using two American oak spirals, both a light and a medium toast plus, each for two weeks at a time. Cleared with Super Kleer.On June 1st I noted that the color had faded a bit and was less red heading toward orange, so I back sweetened on June 23rd with 1/3 bottle of Wine Expert red grape concentrate. That turned the color almost purple, much darker than I had intended. On 8-31 I back sweetened the wine a bit more because it was stll too tart. I used a sugar syrup this time and bottled the same day.


The wine has a nicered color, but a bit too dark for strawberry.It has a very pleasant bouguet, a pleasantly sweet strawberry taste, and a light hint of oak. Turned out better than I expected.

Looking forward to drinking this one starting in early spring.


Ken

 

[grapeman]

Ken I assume you added k-meta and then k-sorbate before adding the concentrate and then the syrup? If not you can get renewed fermentation with blowing corks or bottles. Figured I would make sure.

 

[K&GB]

Appleman,


Yes, thanks. After my mistake with the blackberry, I made sure.

 

[grapeman]

Just wanted to make sure. That really sounds like a good wine.